Members of Imran Khan’s family participated in a side event titled "Human Rights in Pakistan" held during the 61st session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, where discussions centred on Pakistan’s GSP+ trade status, including calls by some participants to suspend the country’s preferential trade access.

At the session, Kasim Khan accused the state of “a systematic campaign to dehumanise and silence” dissent, claiming his father had been jailed for “nearly 1000 days” and treated “not as political disagreement but as a grave crime to be crushed.”

“He’s held in a solitary confinement cell built for death row inmates… the inhuman conditions could amount to torture,” he said, calling it “deliberate persecution designed to strip a human being of his dignity.”

He further alleged that Pakistan has “expanded its blasphemy laws” and is “branding citizens as terrorists, fostering a climate of hatred,” urging international bodies to “press Pakistan to end this persecution… and release my father and all political prisoners.”

However, the session itself has drawn sharp backlash, as it reportedly focused on building a case against Pakistan’s GSP+ status. Participants, including Zulfi Bukhari and a relative of Imran Khan, Dr Usman, who openly urged the European Union to suspend the facility, calling it “most important.”

The EU is Pakistan’s largest export market. GSP+ provides duty-free access under a framework linked to compliance with international conventions and has contributed to growth in trade, employment, and textile exports.

Critics say lobbying against Pakistan’s GSP+ status on international platforms could harm the country’s economy and labour market. The reaction has grown following the presence of Baloch nationalist Naseem Baloch at the forum, who described Balochistan as an “occupied” territory.

© Naya Daur